The Proposal
"So…is that a yes?"
Keith was regretting the many times he blew off watching those romantic movies with the rest of the team. He was in unchartered territory, had already forgotten the knee thing, and was almost positive he would have trouble navigating the rest of this proposal.
Allura must have caught on to his uncertainty and gave him a loving smile as she ran her arms up under his, bringing him into a tight hug.
"How could I possibly say no to you?" she replied in her low bedroom voice. God, he loved that sound.
"Well, I, um, kinda didn't do it right. I don't think."
Stop talking, idiot.
"Lucky for you I'm quite unaware of human traditions then."
For the first time in what felt like forever, Keith was pretty sure his heart started beating again. Allura never made him feel inadequate when it came to this relationship stuff. Of course, that made him wonder exactly what it was she did see in him.
"So, who else knows about this? Besides Coran, I mean?"
The look on her face as she said Coran's name made Keith feel a bit sorry for him. He knew the Princess was not letting his deception go that easily.
"Well, I told Mom. And Shiro…"
Shit, that's her 'I know there's more you're not telling me' look.
"and Pidge and Hunk and Lance." he mumbled as he looked to something that wasn't her face.
"You must have felt pretty confident I'd say yes, huh?" she teased.
"I just wanted to be sure it wouldn't cause any problems with the team. Plus, there was something else I needed to discuss with them."
Keith noticed Allura's face sour a bit. He didn't like leaving her out of discussions so it wasn't something he made a habit of. Surely, she understood that this was a special circumstance.
"You want me to stop flying Red, don't you?"
Wait, had he said something to-
"Look, I know your mom wants to fly again and I'm sure you expect me to go back to watching from the castle. It's just that I'd like to stay on the team a bit longer. I've earned that at least."
Keith shook his head forcefully. Did she really think he'd treat her any differently now?
"Actually I had something else in mind. That's why I met with the other paladins separately. I, actually we, want you to train to fly Black."
Allura looked like she was about to respond but stopped mid-thought, her mouth hanging slightly open in the cutest way possible.
There was no way she wasn't going to get kissed looking like that.
Damn, why hadn't he already kissed her? Like after she said yes? She said yes and good god why hadn't he studied up on this? He was so, so lost.
She broke the kiss for a moment to playfully smack him on the chest with her palm before grabbing his collar to bring him back in for another.
He knew she'd be upset with him for keeping quiet the whole week, but he also knew she'd be thrilled at the prospect of piloting as the head of Voltron.
"So, Coran knew we were proposing to each other and didn't say anything. What do you think his punishment should be?"
"He has to be Hunk's sous chef for two weeks." Keith offered.
As sneaky as Coran had been he couldn't fault him too much. Keith had asked that his secret be kept and he was sure Allura had done the same.
The sun was almost directly above them as they left the caves to head to the shack. Soon they were back on the hover bike and headed towards the castle.
Nanny had been out training with Red when she saw them approaching. Quickly she caught up to them on the ground before leaping nimbly over their heads and landing directly in front of them.
"Shit!" Keith cursed as he brought them to a hasty stop a few feet from Red's nose, almost throwing his fiancée off when it skidded sideways.
His fiancée. He could get used to calling her that.
"I see where you get it from." Allura laughed as soon as she managed to draw oxygen into her lungs again.
"Like you aren't as bad. Our kids are going to give us hell."
The reality was starting to sink in and he was admittedly excited about the prospect of being dad to a brood of little daredevils. Not that he was in a hurry, they still had a war to win, but as soon as possible.
"So are there congratulations in order, or will I have to cancel the caterers." Nanny joked as she emerged from the lion's mouth.
Keith was regretting two things now. Letting her pilot Red and telling her his plans. She was certainly making up for lost time in the embarrassing parent department.
"Cancel the caterers, we're eloping." Keith shot back, winking at Allura- although she likely had no idea what they were talking about.
"My baby boy is getting married; if you elope just remember there's no place in the universe Red can't find you." Nanny retorted before bringing her son and future daughter-in-law into a tight embrace.
The happy group chatted a bit longer before they separated and made their way to the Castle to see Shiro and Coran before the others returned.
Shiro was first to offer his congratulations.
"So, have you chosen a best man yet? Cause I look really good in a tux if you must know."
"Dude, you don't even know if she said yes yet. And I have it narrowed down to you and Slav."
"First, I've spent a week cooped up with Coran who cannot keep secrets after a couple of drinks. Second, you'll never find a tux with that many arms."
To hear them talk it seemed like they were normal people, not space explorers defending galaxies against an alien threat. Keith embraced the moment, hoping that at the end of all of it they would find themselves back together. A family.
Within the hour, the rest of the team had returned. Hunk looked well fed, and Pidge and Lance had deep tans from probably spending the entire week at the beach.
Once each of them had offered their well wishes to the happy couple, Coran left to drop Shiro off at the Garrison and pick Matt up in exchange.
Allura and Pidge broke off from the group to discuss their vacations, so Hunk and Keith took the opportunity to grill Lance about his trip.
"They loved Katie, of course, and her mom seemed to get along well with my family. She really enjoyed it too, although I think she wished Mr. Holt was there."
"Hey, we're freeing prisoners much more often now. Sooner or later we'll find him." Hunk assured Lance.
Keith wished he felt so certain. The Galra were beefing up defenses at all the prisons so rescues were getting harder, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.
Coran returned with their newest team member and the ship was off to its next destination. Matt was cautious around them, not really knowing anyone in the room very well.
"Can one of you boys show our young recruit to his sleeping quarters?" asked Coran, busy himself with manning the castle-ship.
"Keith, do you mind showing me? I'd like to get a chance to ask you about the lions." Matt requested, his voice carrying a sense of urgency.
After grabbing his bags the two men made their way to the wing where the paladins' rooms were. Keith entered first and Matt followed, quickly dropping his bags to the floor. He began to nervously pace the floor, effectively blocking the exit.
"Is something wrong Matt? You can talk to me if you are worried about anything."
Matt's shoes screeched as he stopped abruptly, spinning himself to face Keith.
"If I tell you something can you promise not to share the information with anyone?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper.
"That depends. If necessary I will bring Allura into the conversation. We're on your side, no matter what. You have nothing to worry about. Plus, we're all scared of Katie." Keith offered jokingly, trying to make the trainee feel at ease.
Matt walked over to the bunk and sat down heavily, his hands scrubbing his face as if they could erase his thoughts.
"The Garrison's working on something. Something big. It's not at HQ and I have no access to any of the data. But those crystals you brought weren't all for the new fleet, that much I know."
The news should have surprised him but he knew how things were done in the military. Keith instinctively decided to return to headquarters to grill Iverson about Matt's intel. A warship with that much firepower was not something he felt humans were ready to acquire.
The only thing right now stopping larger nations from going to war was the fact that they had a bigger, scarier foe. If the Galra were defeated, he didn't want to imagine how quickly they might decide to use alien technology to destroy one another.
"Coran, we need to go back to Earth. Abort the jump."
"Sorry Captain, no can do."
"It's important, I'll explain on the way."
"We have a more pressing issue. Prince Bandor sent a distress call from New Altea. Lotor is heading for them with a substantial number of Galra ships. They need our help!"
Shit.
"Matt, we'll get to the bottom of this later. You're about to get a crash course in castle defenses in the meantime."
"Allura, did you hear that?" Keith shouted through the coms as the two men ran for the control room.
"We're on our way."
The rest of the paladins followed on their heels, having heard the commotion in the hallway. Luckily, they were well rested and ready for a fight.
"Coran, what's the story?"
"Apparently the Galra have another spy sending them information. They know that their ruse was discovered and that Allura won't be handed to them on a silver platter. Lotor is furious and has threatened to destroy the planet."
Keith was hoping that Romelle would be able to get everyone into the underground barracks. They may not have been entirely complete but would hold up to an attack. The biggest concern would be if it was a drawn-out fight people might get violent with one another, since water and rations may not have been put in place yet.
The Princess and Pidge arrived a few ticks later and Coran waited for Keith's final instructions. As soon as Allura was in place the castle jumped through the wormhole to the planet.
On arrival, they could see that Bandor was already engaging the larger ships, with smaller vessels sneaking past to fire on the villagers. Romelle hailed the castle-ship to let them know that most everyone was safely in the shelter, save a few holdouts who didn't want to leave their homes earlier and were now trapped above ground.
"Nanny, you take Red. Allura, you will fly Black. Drop me in the center of town and I'll try to rescue as many as I can."
"Keith, we don't even know if I can fly Black, and I can't have you risk your life being exposed like that!"
"If anyone can fly her it's you. I trust you, and she will too."
"It's too dangerous!" Allura protested, her voice cracking.
They'd been here before. Keith running off to rescue villagers, he'd done it many times now. Every other time he'd gone in without a second thought, running to danger because he couldn't bear to stand by idly and watch. This was the first time his feet didn't immediately want to respond, however.
This time he had so much more to lose. He had plans. He had a future, with her.
He'd promised to always come back to her, no matter what. This is one promise he couldn't break.